Engine block heater



Feb. 3, 1953 M. J. MARxsKA ENGINE BLOCK HEATER Filed May 4. 1951Patented Feb. 3, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

6 Claims.

This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in an engineblock heater'and more speciiically pertains to a heating attachmentspecifically adapted to pre-heat or supplement the heating of thecooling water in the cooling water jacket of an internal combustionengine to facilitate the starting ofthe sameV or to` assist in warmingthe engine block and water jacket during idling of the engine and thelike.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an attachment whichmay be readily applied to conventional forms of internal combustionengines to provide a source of heat for warming or pre-heating theengine block through heating the coolant thereof.

A further important object ofl the invention is to provide a heatingattachment for internal combustion engines as set forth hereinbeforewherein the heating unit shall be rendered as compact and of as simple aconstruction as possible in the interest of low cost of construction,economy of servicing and upkeep, convenience of mounting in confined orlimited quarters and eiiiciency of operation.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a Waterheating attachment for internal combustion engines which shall deliverpre-heated water at a predetermined temperature to the water jacket ofan engine.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a heating attachmentin conformity with the foregoing objects which shall be capable ofutilizing various gaseous fuels such as bottled gas or the like as asource of heat.

A still further important object or" the invention is to provide acompact construction of heating attachment for internal combustionengines in `which the fuel burner shall be mounted upon and supported bya removable bottom wall of the devi-ce for ease of assembly anddis-assembly; wherein there shall be provided a baille for improving theefficiency of operation of the burner and preventing its accidentalextinction by air currents; and wherein the baille may be convenientlymounted upon the removable bottom wall and the burner rernovabll mountedupon the baie.

These, together with various ancillary features and objects, of. theinvention which will later become apparent as the following descriptionproceeds, are attained by the present invention, a preferred embodimentof which has been illustrated, by Way of example only, (in the4accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing a portion of aconventional internal combustion engine and its cooling system togetherwith the heating attachment of this inn vention operatively associatedtherewith;

Figure 2 is a vertical central sectional view through the attachment ofFigure l, the same being taken upon an enlarged scale and substantiallyupon the plane indicated by the section line 2-2 of Figure 3, the arrowsshowing the direc tion of gas flow and water now through the de vice;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional View taken substantially upon theplane indicated by the section line 3--3 of Figure 2 and showing theposition of the thermostaticvalve in theV water heater of the device;and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the removable bottom wallof the device.

Referring now more specifically to the accompanying drawings, whereinlike numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views, itwill be seen that the numeral I0 designates generally, in its entirety,the improved heating unit forming the subject of this invention, andwhich has been shown as operatively applied to an in ternal combustionengine, indicated generally by the numeral l2, of any conventional form,but which utilizes a water jacket and water cooling system,

As indicated, the block of the engine at Ul is connected with a coolingradiator l by a bottom hose connection i8 and a return or upper hoseconnection 20. By means of the rubber hose inlet conduit 22 and heatedwater outlet conduit 24, the heating unit I is operatively connected tothe water jacket of the engine adjacent the bottom and top portions,respectively. Thus, relativelyA cool water is taken from the lowerportion of the engine block I4, is heated bythe de vice as set forthhereinafter, andis discharged at a. predetermined temperature' to theupper portion of the block. The normal convection currents within thecooling system oi the engine, in conjunction with this heater, thuscause a thermo-syphonic circulation of water through the water jacket.and through the pre-heating unit.

In accordance with this invention, the heater unit is supplied withgaseous fuel from any suitable source, such, for example, as from a tankof bottled gas, by means of a gas supply conduit 26,. It is obvious thatany desired source may be utilized for supplyingfuel to the heater, butbottled gas is deemed to be preferable in that it is. independent of afixed source of supply,V and is eiective for supplying quick and intenseheat at substantially any outside temperature prevailing, and thus isideally adapted for pre-heating internal combustion engines inrelatively severe climates.

The heater unit IU embodying the principles of this invention mayconveniently comprise a sheet metal casing 28 of any suitable shape andsize, such as a cylindrical configuration, which has welded or otherwisefixedly secured thereto a closure or top wall 30 through which theheated water discharge conduit 24 extends. The top wall is furtherprovided with a plurality of vents or apertures' 32 by means of whichthe fumes or products of combustion from within the device may bedischarged to the atmosphere.

Adjacent the open bottom edge of the cylindrical member 28, and spacedslightly thereabove, is a plate 34 which may be of any desired shape,and which is preferably welded to the cylinder 28 and surrounds thesame, this plate having welded thereto a cylindrical band 36constituting a side wall. Removably secured to the bottom edge of theside wall 36, as by fastening bolts 38, is a bottom wall 40 which maylikewise be in the form of a circular plate, and which is provided witha plurality of apertures 42 constituting air inlet openings. Theseopenings constitute the air inlet means for the gaseous fuel burner tobe set forth hereinafter.

Extending laterally from the side wall 36 is a tubular or sleeve-likemember 44 which is welded to the wall 36 and communicates therewith, asthrough an opening 46. At its outer end, the member 44 is provided witha closure or end wall 48 thru which extends and to which is detachablyconnected the fuel supply conduit 2S, as shown.

The member 28, with the cylindrical member 36 attached thereto,constitutes a combustion chamber in which is received the fuel burnerand the products of combustion arising therefrom.

Mounted upon the bottom wall 4U, as by spacer bushings'or collars 50, isa plate 52 which constitutes a baiiie adapted to overlie the air inletopenings 42 in spaced relation thereto. A conventional form of gaseousfuel burner, indicated generally by the numeral 54, is provided, thesame consisting of a hollow annular member 56 having an annularcombustible gas manifold 58 with discharge orifices 6U, and having alaterally extending tubular neck 62 which extends into the member 44 andterminates closely adjacent the end wall 48 thereof. The neck member 62,in turn, has a closed end wall 64 provided with air inlet openings 66therein, there being provided a gaseous fuel discharge nozzle 68extending through the wall 64 and into the neck member, as shown, andbeing connected with the fuel supply line 26.

The burner assembly 54 is detachably secured to and supported by thebaffle member 52, as by fastening screws 10.

It will thus be seen that the burner unit has the air deflecting baille52 interposed between the same and the air inlet means 42 to therebyshield the burner flame from the direct flow of air which might tend toblow out the burner. In addition, the burner is directly carried solelyby the baffle member which, in turn, is directly mounted upontheremovable bottom wallv 48 for.. Y lremoval, therewith. Thus, theburner is readily removable for servicing the same as desired.

Any design and conventional form of burner may be employed, it beingunderstood .that it is the arrangement and use of the burner incombination with the other elements rather than the construction of theburner itself which forms the essential feature of this invention.

It will now be readily seen that combustion supporting air passesthrough the air inlet means 42 and is deflected by the bafIie 52 so thatpart of the air passes around through the member 44 to the neck of theburner and through the air inlet opening 66, where the same mixes withthe gaseous fuel supplied by the nozzle 68. The rest of the combustionsupporting air passing around the baiiie 52 passes up through thecentral opening 'I2 of the burner head, or about the outside of thehead, as indicated by the arrows, to mix with the burner flame and passinto the interior of the cylindrical member 28, from whence it rises andeventually is discharged to the atmosphere through the vents 32 in thetop wall 36.

Disposed within the member 28 is a water heater, indicated generally bythe numeral 15. This water heater may be of various desired types, and,as illustrated, comprises upper and lower removable housing members 'I6and 'I8 detachably secured together as by fastening screws 8D extendingthrough complementary flanges on the two section members. The members 16and 18 are provided with screw-threaded neck portions 82 and 84,respectively, which extend through the top and side walls of the unitfor engagement by the associated conduits 24 and 22, previouslymentioned.

Within the member 15, there is provided a partition 86 which preventsfree flow of Water through the cooling unit from the conduit 22 to theconduit 24. The partition 86 has removably secured thereto, as byfastening screws 88, and flange 9D, a sleeve or tube 92. This tube isopen at both its upper and lower ends, and has mounted therein aconventional form of thermostat for controlling a water throttle valve94. The construction of this thermostat may be of any of numerous knownconventional designs and in itself forms no part of the presentinvention. The arrangement, however, is such that the thermostat willmaintain the valve 94 closed to thereby prevent flow of water throughthe heating unit until the water in the member 18 has attained apredetermined temperature, such, for example, as 180 F. When thistemperature is attained, the thermostat will be energized to cause thevalve 94 to open, thereby permitting flow of water from the heater 'l5into the upper portion or" the engine block.

It will now be readily understood that the relatively cool water fromthe engine block-drawn in by the conduit 22 into the bottom of theheater 'I5 will be heated to the predetermined temperature for which thethermostatic valve is set, and

when so heated will then be discharged through Y the conduit 24 to theupper vportion of the cooling jacket of the engine. 'I'his temperaturedifference between the water in the conduits 22 and 24 will thus cause acontinuous thermo-syphonic circulation of the water throughout theentire cooling system of the. engine, thereby eifectively heating andpre-heating all of the parts of the engine. The heated engine will thusbe capable of being more readily started in extremely cold weather; andwill operate more efficiently when run at .relatively low speedsor underidling con` .ditions 1 The invention thus provides a` means which may bereadily applied to any conventional internal combustion engine, sincethe device will be supported solely by or-substantially `solely by 5 thehot water conduits 22 and 24 which may be suitably connected with thecooling system oi' the engine. The device is independent of the engineoperation for its source of fuel and is likewise independent of theexternal temperature for its operation.

In order to light the fuel burner, an opening 96 is provided, as in thewall of the cylindrical member 28, by means of which a lighted match maybe placed against the fuel burner for igniting the same. This openingmay be controlled by a closure plate 98 having a iinger-grip portion |00and pivoted upon a retaining screw |02, a spring |04 being provided foryieldingly urging the closure plate into its closed or partially closedposition. This plate may be employed solely for efficient purposes; ormay be employed to control a regulated, supplemental quantity of air asdesired.

Since, from the foregoing, the construction and advantage of this engineblock heater are readily apparent, further description is believed to beunnecessary.

However, since numerous modications and equivalents will readily occurto those skilled in the art after a consideration of the foregoingspecification and accompanying drawings, it is not intended to limit theinvention to the exact embodiment shown and described, but all suitablemodications and equivalents may be resorted to which fall within thescope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A heater for internal combustion engines s heater is supported andmounted upon an engine by said conduit means.

3. The combination of claim. 1 including air inlet means in said casingfor supplying combustion supporting air to said burner, a baileinterposed between said air inlet means and said fuel burner.

4. The combination of claim 1 including air inlet means in said casingfor supplying combustion supporting air to said burner, a baffleinterposed between said air inlet means and said ifuel burner, saidburner being directly mounted upon and supported by said baffle.

5. The combination of claim 1 including air inlet means in said casingfor supplying combustion supporting air to said burner, a bafiieinterposed between said air inlet means and said fuel burner, saidburner being directly mounted upon and supported by said baffle, saidcasing having a removable bottom wall, said Vair inlet means consistingof openings in said bottom wall.

6. The combination of claim 1 including air inlet means in said casingfor supplying combustion supporting air to said burner, a bailleinterposed between said air inlet means and said fuel burner, saidburner being directly mounted upon and supported by said baffle, saidcasing having a removable bottom wall, said air inlet means consistingof openings in said bottom wall, said baffle being mounted upon saidbottom wall and removable therewith.

MILTON J. MARISKA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in` the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,258,068 Wetzler Mar. 5, 19181,357,598 Thompson Nov. 2, 1920 1,857,767 Rentz May 10, 1932 2,046,812Danuser et al. July 7, 1936

